BOUND

COMPOSED BY: HUANG RUO
LIBRETTO BY: BAO-LONG CHU

“Though many composers meld Asian and Western elements in their music, Mr. Huang does so with such confidence and elegance that you hardly notice the mingling.”
– The New York Times

“To me, a Vietnamese refugee living in America, the notion of being bound to one’s culture (and the struggles therein) is not just an idea, but my life writ large.”
– Librettist, Bao-Long Chu

Opera Maine’s Studio Artist Program presents Bound, a moving and contemporary chamber opera by acclaimed composer Huang Ruo and librettist Bao-Long Chu. Inspired by real events, Bound tells the powerful story of Diane Tran, a Vietnamese-American high school student balancing the weight of her family’s expectations, cultural identity, and the harsh realities of the legal system.

Through Huang Ruo’s evocative score—blending Western and Eastern musical traditions—and Bao-Long Chu’s poignant text, Bound explores themes of belonging, duty, and the search for personal freedom.

This intimate production, conducted by Lance Inouye and directed by Richard Gammon, features the talented young artists of Opera Maine’s Studio Artist Program, offering audiences an unforgettable and thought-provoking theatrical experience.

Join us for Bound on Friday, June 26 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, June 28 at 2:30 PM at Mainstage Theater at Portland Stage.

Portland Stage: Visitor and parking information

JUNE 26 & JUNE 28

TICKETS

$35 | FREE for ages 21 and under
FREE for Veterans, and First Responders (get tickets through the links on our ‘Tickets‘ page)

PERFORMED IN:
English
SUPERTITLES IN:
English

RUNTIME:
60 MINUTES – ONE ACT

INCLUDED IN TICKET PRICE:

Pre-performance talk with dramaturg Calien Lewis one hour before curtain.
Post-performance conversation with composer Huang Ruo, director Richard Gammon, members of the cast, Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ, and members of Maine’s Vietnamese community.

CONDUCTOR
Lance Inouye

A Word from the Conductor:

“I am so thrilled to be coming back to conduct at Opera Maine this summer and to be working once again with Richard Gammon. Richard is a brilliant director and a wonderful mentor to young singers. I look forward to working with the Studio Artists and to bringing Huang Ruo’s heart wrenching opera, Bound, to the stage.”

-Lance Inouye

A Word from the Director:

The way of water/if these waves could speak

BOUND is an opera about balance. Diane, a Vietnamese American high school student, is navigating the obstacles of Western individualistic society while adhering to the Eastern communal expectations with which she was raised. Her parent’s divorce and her siblings’ subsequent financial dependence are barriers preventing her success. We first meet Diane when she has been betrayed by the very systems designed to protect her. The law and her mother have both failed, so she sits alone in a jail cell.

I’ve chosen to meditate on the theme of water in this production. In the piece there is a constant pull towards a vastness. As if the waves are inviting you to brave the currents and undertows hidden behind sheets of rain and thick mists. There is no whispered promise of a safer shore. A disruptive imbalance pervades as two voices sound simultaneously, each demanding attention and respect. Water enables you to escape, to flee, to connect with that which was once lost. But it ravishes and destroys just as easily for it, much like any part of your family, must be first understood and then respected.

Today we witness Diane, in the rain, take her first steps towards freedom.

-Richard Gammon